On The Scene: Alex Edelman's ‘Just For Us’ uses Broadway to overcome antisemitism

Alex Edelman's “Just For Us” is a show about identity, authenticity, and getting laughs.

News 12 Staff

Jul 26, 2023, 10:29 AM

Updated 498 days ago

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When a comedian faced online hate, he not only confronted it, but he also wrote a Broadway show about it.
Alex Edelman's “Just For Us” is a show about identity, authenticity, and getting laughs.
Edelman has funny stories about growing up Jewish. But he also takes on antisemitism after attending a meeting of white supremacists to confront their beliefs face-to-face - a seemingly risky choice.
“Curiosity is my defining characteristic,” Edelman said.
Edelman said as he developed “Just For Us,” he started to see himself differently as a Jewish person.
“I think examining your own identity every day on stage for a year and a half, three years, five years,” he said. “So, I think my own relationship with the way I feel about the things that are important to me has definitely waxed and waned in terms of what I'm concerned with and how I feel. It's been a really unique and interesting journey."
“Seeing the valence that the things that I care about and what those things have to other people in terms of like the parts of us that feel specific to us and our families and our communities and the parts that make us fit in more with the broader America at large...those are the things that I've been forced to reflect on,” he added.
"Just For Us" is a limited engagement scheduled through Aug. 19 at the Hudson Theatre.